Photo caption: Helen Zughaib, “Syrian Migration #25,” gouache on board, 2019
Renowned artist and painter Helen Zughaib will be a University of Central Arkansas artist-in-residence with a lecture titled “Conflict and Beauty” on Tuesday, Sept. 10 in UCA’s McCastlain Hall. The lecture will take place from 1:40-2:30 p.m. and is open to the public.
At noon on Sept. 10, Zughaib will also visit the “Cultural Ties” exhibition at the Baum Gallery in McCastlain Hall. The exhibition, which features her artwork as well as works by Sonya Clark and Joyce J. Scott, confronts racial and cultural stereotypes through artwork created in a variety of mediums. The “Cultural Ties” exhibition is open to the public through Oct. 11.
“My goal in bringing Helen’s work to UCA stems from her ability to move, almost effortlessly, from one medium to the next,” said Brian Young, director of UCA’s Baum Gallery. “She works with gouache, ceramic, fiber, found objects and now, video. I think her work will be an inspiration for our students. Hopefully, they will see that virtually any medium can be used to tell a story.”
Zughaib was born in Beirut, Lebanon, and lived mostly in the Middle East and Europe before moving to the United States to study art at Syracuse University. There, she earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the College of Visual and Performing Arts. Her work has been widely exhibited in galleries and museums in the United States, Europe and Lebanon, and her paintings are included in many private and public collections in locations such as the White House, World Bank at the Library of Congress and others. Her paintings are also included in the Washingtonia Collection in Washington, D.C., and they have been featured in several Art-in-Embassy exhibitions abroad, including those in Brunei, Nicaragua, Mauritius, Iraq, Belgium and Lebanon.
“Helen’s work has gained additional poignancy since the Arab Spring blew into the Middle East around 2012,” Young said. “In some ways, this turmoil put Helen’s work in the spotlight in the political environment where she lives: Washington D.C.”
For more information, contact Young at (501) 450-5793 or email bkyoung@uca.edu.
The Baum Gallery is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday.
The artist-in-residence program is funded by UCA’s arts fee and is administered by the College of Fine Arts and Communication. For more information about the program, contact the Office of the Dean, College of Fine Arts and Communication, at (501) 450-3293 or email iragne1@uca.edu.
The UCA College of Fine Arts and Communication includes the Departments of Art, Music, Film, Theatre & Creative Writing and the School of Communication. The college’s primary mission is the preparation of the next generation of artists, educators and communicators. For more information about CFAC, visit uca.edu/cfac or call (501) 450-3293.
